


Stop Putting Out the Fire

by enderfetch



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enderfetch/pseuds/enderfetch
Summary: With Charlie's new reign over the world of Don't Starve, sometimes people must make compromises- like an ex-demon magician and a gentleman scientist forced to work together in order to survive in this odd world. With both Wilson and Maxwell recently freed from the Nightmare Throne, they must work together to thrive in this hellish world. Can they survive?





	1. Chapter 1

“Stop putting out the fire.”

Maxwell had lost almost all of his powers at this point, luckily. Even with that dreaded Codex Umbra, he didn’t dare summon too many shadow puppets at once; even without the fact he gets more unstable with each, it freaked out Wilson horribly. And, even though Maxwell ruled this world for who knows how long, he knew he had to keep Wilson around. He didn’t know how to actually  _ survive _ yet.

But he still had a certain control over the shadow hands, and decided to use that to mess with Wilson. Dusk had settled over the land, and Wilson learned long ago that this meant it was time to set up the fire and try to settle for the night as best as he could. However, when he got the first log lit, Maxwell always summoned shadow hands to put it out. At first Wilson thought he was just kidding, but as night approached he was getting irritated and terribly anxious.

As Wilson turned to Maxwell after his uncharacteristically stern statement, Maxwell just shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, pal.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Wilson cried. “You’ve been refusing to cooperate with me the entire damn time we’ve been together and just played around with your little shadow toys.”

“Well, can you really blame me? If you had time to be on that throne, I doubt you would refuse to ‘play around’ with the powers given to you. I’m just getting a final taste.”

The scientist’s eyes fell on the Codex Umbra next to Maxwell. He knew Maxwell guarded that thing with his life to the point of not letting Wilson even go near it, but maybe to make a point…

He quickly grabbed the book while Maxwell was still giving him a smug look. That look faded as Maxwell stood and lunged at Wilson, clawing at him for the book. They both tumbled around like children fighting over a toy as they fought for the book, both flinging insults at each other when they could catch their breath.

Finally, Maxwell ended up winning, standing triumphantly with the book in hand over the defeated Wilson. Wilson pulled himself up with a glare at Maxwell.

“Why do you even care about that book so much?” he snapped. “I get that it’s powerful, but it’s not  _ that _ important.”

“Don’t talk about things you don’t know of, scientist. This book is more important than you or anything in this place will ever be,” the magician sighed, turning away from Wilson and mumbling, “I’m so sorry, Charlie…”

“Charlie?” Wilson asked.

Maxwell quickly turned back around to face Wilson. “You heard me?”

“Maxwell, there’s not exactly something else to distract me here.”

“Well, disregard that. It’s not… important.”

“Who’s Charlie?”

“What did I just say?”

“You act like I listen to what you say.”

Maxwell sighed and sat down on the ground. Wilson, now very interested in this strange Charlie, sat in front of him. Maxwell just stared at the book in his lap in silence for a few moments, stroking the cover gently as if it would crumble under his touch.

“Charlie is… was, my assistant,” Maxwell started. “Before I was brought to this world, I was a man called William Carter. Just a lowly magician from Europe. I was extremely anxious and timid; can you believe that? I came to the USA for my shows, and to be closer to family. At first, I was a horrible magician. Hardly anyone came to my shows. I was a poor man with not a penny to his name with a pathetic stubbornness to keep on with the magic acts; there wasn’t much else I was good at, you see.

“I decided to travel west to meet my brother- he recently had twins, so I was hoping to at least see them to raise my spirits. I temporarily joined a circus that was heading westward, both to meet my brother and to look like I was going somewhere with my acts. As we were heading west, my caravan crashed; I was presumed dead, but I simply chose to disappear from the media for a bit after I found something. A book. The book that is sitting in my lap at this current moment.

“I started to study the contents of this book. I performed countless rituals, summonings, everything I could to learn about the dark arts. All for my magic shows. And it worked; people started coming in swarms for ‘The Amazing Maxwell’ as I dubbed myself. This is when I took on Charlie as my assistant.”

Wilson was in shock. He knew previously that Maxwell was forced onto the throne, but he never imagined  _ this _ would be his story. He had started to feel pity for the magician; something he didn’t like, as the last time he did he was forced into the Nightmare Throne.

“So why are you sorry?” Wilson asked. “You said you were sorry to Charlie, what’s that about?”

Maxwell sighed and looked at the book again. “She had to watch me lose my grip on everything. She had to watch me get more and more obsessed with the dark arts and slowly lose my mind to it. And she…”

Maxwell covered his mouth for a moment, and Wilson could see tears forming in his eyes. “She was dragged along with me to this hellish place.”

Wilson gave a gasp, covering his own mouth. Charlie was  _ here?  _ “Where is she, then? I haven’t seen anyone else!”

“She… she became the darkness,” Maxwell mumbled. “In my final performance, They dragged us both here. As They sat me on the Nightmare Throne, They made me watch as they covered her and transformed her into the darkness- just like Them.

“At first, it was fine. We were able to talk and to still be with each other. But then… we both got bored. As I was creating more and more creatures to fill these lands, she found a hobby in attacking the creatures who couldn’t see her in the night. When I summoned you here, I guess she took a liking to you.”

Questions raced through Wilson’s head. Who was Them? Why was Charlie so interested in him? Why did They put Maxwell on the throne and transform Charlie?

Even with these questions, Wilson could tell Maxwell was having a rough time going through all of this. The magician had his eyes forced close and was trembling, clinging onto the book for dear life. Wilson just leaned over and awkwardly patted Maxwell’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. Well it’s kinda not, but… there’s not much we can do now. We just have to survive.”

Maxwell slowly nodded, looking up at the scientist. “Well, what about you?”

“Me?”  
“Yes, what about your inevitably tragic life story?”

“Shouldn’t you know? You’re the one who brought me here.”

“I know you’re a gentleman scientist and you live alone in the mountains, that’s it. So, what else has happened to you? A man doesn’t just decide to live in total isolation for nothing.”

Wilson couldn’t make himself meet Maxwell’s eyes, finding a sudden interest in the ground as he spoke. “Well, you are right there. I didn’t exactly get along with my family. They couldn’t… accept me.”

“For being a scientist?”

That wasn’t nearly the truth, but Wilson wasn’t sure he was ready to share what  _ was _ true about him. About his family. So, he just slowly nodded. “Uh… yeah. For being a scientist. I moved a few states away from them and set up my lab in the mountains.”

Maxwell didn’t look convinced. He was staring at Wilson with a knowing look, as if to say  _ Don’t try to lie to me _ . However, the man still didn’t push, and just gave a stiff nod. “Huh, alright. Sorry about not getting along with your family, pal.”

“It’s alright, I’m used to it,” Wilson sighed. He didn’t even notice how late it got, but now he saw the sun going down behind Maxwell and the land starting to darken. He gasped as he scrambled to get up, quickly throwing logs into the fire.

As darkness settled around them, Maxwell stayed on the edge of the light. Suddenly, an eerie smile crossed his face as he got up. “Perhaps we don’t even need a fire. Charlie attacks when you can’t see her, but she knows me. I can convince her to stop!”

Wilson stared at Maxwell, dumbfounded. Had he actually gone mad? “Maxwell, that won’t work. She hasn’t ever stopped before.”

“You’ll see, she will for me!” Maxwell exclaimed, running into the darkness before Wilson could say anything.

Wilson ran out to the edge of the light. For a few moments it was silent- then the dreaded, whooshing noise appeared signaling the presence of the Night Monster. Maxwell gasped, stuttering out, “Charlie? It’s me! Maxwell!”

He didn’t have much time.The scientist risked running out into the darkness, rapidly feeling around for the magician. He finally got a hold of the other’s dapper suit, and tugged them both back into the light of the fire right as he heard the noise of Charlie’s approach.

Maxwell looked horrified. As Wilson went to go fuel the fire, Maxwell found himself trembling on the ground. He looked up at the scientist, and mumbled the most pathetic and pitiful thing he had ever heard.

“I’m not really free, am I?”


	2. Chapter 2

“So tell me again, pal,” Maxwell said, lazily taking a drag on his cigarette. “How did you get off the throne?”

Wilson was already a bit farther ahead than the magician. Just putting his torch away after the night of wandering, he didn’t waste any time in keeping headstrong in his search for just some damn gold. He was starting to get annoyed with the other. Maxwell just seemed to be taking his time, and it didn’t even occur to him just how urgent it was that they  _ must _ get a base set up as soon as possible.

Wilson slowed just a bit so Maxwell could catch up to him, sighing, “I told you, I can’t remember. In fact, I don’t remember much at all after freeing you. After your trials and being forced onto the throne, my memory gets rather fuzzy. All I remember is someone freeing me, someone  _ else _ .”

“Huh,” Maxwell frowned, finally putting his cigarette away. “How odd, I seem to remember everything from being on that throne.”

“Everything? Are you sure?” Wilson asked.

“Well… when you freed me, it’s a bit of a blur. I remember someone coming to free me, me talking for a bit, and then I woke up here. Honestly, pal, I didn’t even remember it was you.”

“Really? I thought my hair would have given it away.”

“Really, but now that I think about it I remember your hair being spiked like… that. Are you sure there aren’t any defining factors you remember?”

Wilson tried to dig deep into his memory. There was definitely someone who freed him, took his power… “They had a rather feminine figure. And… it almost seemed like they were made of shadow.”

Maxwell froze. Wilson stopped to look back at the magician, but only found him staring off into space. Finally, he said, “Did she have fire-like hair? And her dress seemed to take the shape of tentacles?”

“Well, I’m not sure if they were a ‘she’ perse, but I think they did.”

“Charlie…” he muttered, shaking his head. “No, no, you must be mistaken. She wouldn’t… she wouldn’t free  _ you _ ! If she could, why would she not free me…?”

“Well,” Wilson said. “Weren’t you the one who brought her here? I doubt she’d just love you after that.”

A look of guilt ran over Maxwell’s face. He took a step back and shook his head again, his breath quickening. “Shut up, alright! She said she forgave me, especially since I was suffering due to this too. She wouldn’t want revenge on me…”

Wilson doubted it. If Charlie forgave him  _ especially _ because he was suffering, it may have  _ only _ been because he was suffering. Was Maxwell’s whole time on the throne taking revenge?

Despite his concerns, he didn’t voice them. He just sighed, “Look, Maxwell, I’m sure her reasons aren’t that bad. She probably forgives you but couldn’t get the power to get you out until now.”

Maxwell slowly nodded, but didn’t look all that convinced. “Let’s just keep going, this damn gold won’t find itself.”

…

By the end of the day, Maxwell and Wilson had managed to build a base. They had found quite a few gold-infused rocks and spent all day mining them. They spent the rest of the day arguing where to set up the base, and it only ended with Wilson panicking and setting up a campfire pit right as the sun went down.

As night fell, Maxwell started on cooking their food as Wilson set up the science machine. The soft whirr as it powered up put his mind right at ease from the restless day. He wanted to believe that he would prefer to be alone again rather than with Maxwell, but he couldn’t deny that some company was better than no one to speak to. Hell, he even found himself starting to grow used to Maxwell’s snarkiness after all this time alone, and that annoyed him the most out of the whole situation.

Right as he got the machine set up, a small gift appeared in front of him. He looked upon the curious little thing. It seemed to catch Maxwell’s attention as well, as the magician made his way over from the fire.

“Now, what is this?” he asked, looking upon the gift with wonder.

“I have no clue,” Wilson answered.

Before Maxwell could say anything else, he started to unwrap the gift. The wrapping seemed to disappear as he tore it off, and soon he was left with only a shift in his hands- looking as if it would just fit him.

“Huh,” Maxwell said. “Looks like Charlie is being considerate. I wonder if I got anything…”

As Maxwell approached the science machine, a gift appeared in front of him. He started to unwrap it as Wilson just grinned at the shirt. Finally, he had something clean in here to wear! He just had to slip away in the morning to put it on… 

“Gloves? What a bummer,” Maxwell said, standing as he put on the gloves. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Wilson looked at Maxwell in confusion, asking, “Waiting for what?”

Maxwell groaned, “To put on the shirt! I’m sure you don’t want to stay in that dumb vest for much longer.”

“It’s not dumb! And I… I really can’t change here.”

“Why not? We’re both grown men, it’s not as if you’re revealing everything to me by showing your chest. Plus, you don’t seem like the type to have shame in your body.”

Wilson was at a loss. Was Maxwell really forcing him to say why he was uncomfortable? He knew he could just keep insisting he didn’t want to, but he felt as if Maxwell would keep pushing him in retaliation. Perhaps he should tell the truth…?

“I… okay, but before I do,” Wilson said, his voice weak. “Have you, um… have you heard of transsexual people?”

“What the hell is that?” Maxwell asked, obviously confused.

“It’s basically where people don’t identify as the gender their body was assigned.”

“Ah, yes, transvestites. Is the new word transsexual? I had no clue.”

“Yes, it is. Now, anyways, um…” Wilson trailed off, not meeting Maxwell’s eyes. “I am… I am transsexual. I have female breasts and genitalia, but I am not female.”

Maxwell was silent for a moment, before shrugging and simply saying, “Alright.”

Wilson looked up at him in shock, gasping, “Alright?”

“Yes? I don’t see what’s so odd about it; I can assure you, it’s not nearly the most out of the ordinary thing I’ve heard of.”

A weight felt like it had been lifted off of Wilson’s chest, but there was a bit of confusion. He was terrified that Maxwell would be disgusted at him, yell at him, call him some freak of nature- but he didn’t even care. 

“I, uh… okay, alright. Just alright,” Wilson stuttered, forcing his focus back to the science machine.

“Is something wrong?” Maxwell asked, confusion obvious in his voice.

“It’s just… I’ve been sitting on this for years!” Wilson cried out, looking at the magician. “My parents kicked me out of my damn house for this, and you just say  _ ‘Alright?’ _ ”

“Ah, so that’s why you lived alone? That’s rough, pal, sorry for that.”

“Don’t feel sorry! Just…” he sighed, sitting down and resting his back on the machine. “God, I never thought someone would be so  _ alright _ with it. I don’t… really know how to deal with this.”

Maxwell let out a groan and, surprising Wilson, moved to sit next to the scientist. Wilson noted that he was surprisingly warm. He was expecting something colder, almost akin to the cold embrace of death, but… Maxwell’s presence was oddly comforting and warm. Wilson almost wanted to lean into his embrace; almost. His own sanity wasn’t low enough to go through with something like  _ that _ . However, he couldn’t lie that it was tempting…

“Higgsbury,” Maxwell said, shocking Wilson by referring him to even his last name. “You’re not odd for how you identify. Essentially, there’s nothing different about you that I see except for your body; which I had no interest in anyways.”

Wilson shrugged, replying hesitantly, “I guess, but… I’m just used to it being a big deal.”

“Not to me.”

With that, Wilson felt an odd sense of security. This man who had previously hurt him was now stuck in the same spot as the scientist, but had ended up more accepting of one of his biggest secrets.

Perhaps being stuck with Maxwell wasn’t the worst thing to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Using the old words for trans was physically painful (btw if you're cis or don't know, pls don't use transvestite or transsexual for a transgender person. I only used them because Maxwell and Wilson are from the early 1900s and these are the words they used). I apologize for taking a bit to get the new chapter out, but I hope you all like it!


	3. Chapter 3

“Wilson, get the hell away from there!” 

Wilson backed away from the pile of rocks at the sound of Maxwell’s shout. It looked like someone rushed to pile the rocks on top of each other, and just a few hits with a pickaxe would destroy it in an instant.

“Why?” Wilson asked, turning to the taller man. “It’s just a bunch of rocks.”

“You damn fool, this goes to the caves,” Maxwell huffed.

Wilson answered, “The caves? Never heard of them.”  
“You’ve never been there?”

“Never.”

“I guess I overestimate your ability to thrive. In the caves, it’s constant darkness- constantly in danger of Charlie. There’s not nearly as many plentiful resources down there, either.”

“So why the hell does it exist?”

“There’s still different stuff down there than up here. You can get more… unique resources, per se.”

“Then let’s go down!”

“Did you not hear me? We don’t have the supplies for it.”

“Well,” Wilson said, a grin on his face. “Let’s go get some.”

Maxwell shook his head, sighing. “How the hell did you survive here before me, again?”

…

“Okay, so I found the prototypes for a miner hat, a lantern, perhaps a log suit would be sufficient?” Wilson said, hunched over the science machine.

“Perhaps, if you don’t mind being on the verge of death,” Maxwell said, making his way over to the other. “Wilson, we don’t even have an alchemy machine. This is normally a late game activity- er, a later expedition. We shouldn’t try to rush ourselves to meet our demise.

“It’s not! We’ll be f-”

Maxwell grabbed Wilson, making him face the magician as he hissed, “Wilson, without the right supplies we will be in constant darkness, constantly losing our sanity, and in constant danger. More so than up here. Think about this!”

Wilson was silent for a few seconds. On some level he knew Maxwell was right, that he should take this much slower than he has been. Winter was practically right around the corner. And yet, he couldn’t shake his curiosity. What was down there that was so dangerous? What supplies could be down there? What research could be found? There were too many questions, but not enough supplies to answer.

“I guess so.”

“Good boy,” Maxwell let go of Wilson, patting his head.

Wilson huffed, grabbing the other’s hand. “I’m not a dog.”

“If you say so.”

Wilson shook his head, turning back to the science machine. “So what do we have to do?”

“We have to get an alchemy machine, a source of food,” Maxwell said. “And prepare for the Deerclops.”

Wilson froze. The Deerclops had attacked him once before- destroying his camp and leaving him for dead. He had only survived because he had found a few logs, grass, and earmuffs left behind in the wreckage. The thought that he would have to endure that attack again sent a shiver down his spine.

“Right,” Wilson squeaked, starting to mess with the science machine. “What should we start with?”

“For now, food is our top priority. And…” Maxwell made an odd face, mumbling, “How do we do that?”

Wilson had to hide a grin. He sometimes forgot he had the upper hand over Maxwell with surviving. “We build a few farms and find some rabbits! Since you seem to know so much, how about you help me get some traps?”

“How about you shut your trap, Higgsbury?” Maxwell hissed, but still sat with Wilson as he took out some grass and sticks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is just a short filler chapter, I've been really overworked with school and I haven't had much time to write. Thank you all so much for supporting this story!


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